One thing that Niko saw as they were walking through the town was the fact that there weren’t that many people above essence tier one. Even among the parents he’d been around previously, some were below that tier, something that he might not have really noticed if it wasn’t for the fact that he could directly compare them to the Greenhorns. The children were even lower in essence density, and it made him wonder how exactly the act of absorbing essence worked.

It was easy to say that it was at least partially based on time, but that meant that older people would clearly be more powerful. However, as he saw several individuals walking around, he was able to see just as many middle aged and elderly folk that, while they were firmly in tier one, weren’t anything special. Again, the Greenhorns possessed more power than the majority of them did.

Niko began forming his questions to Skye, doing his best to form them with as much focus as he could.

Skye frowned and asked aloud, “Why is everyone so weak?”

“Mmm… not quite, but close enough,” Niko made an unequivocal gesture, but also motioned for her to continue.

“You mean essence-wise, right?” Skye waited for Niko to nod and then said, “People can absorb ambient essence over the course of their lives. Generally, it happens easier when someone is expending effort or will, more still when it's something someone likes to do.”

“It can also happen if you hate it,” Ronald added, “There’s plenty of people who do really hard jobs, knowing that they’ll hate it, just because they know it will technically make essence absorption faster. But it’s not really worth it.”

Skye nodded to that, “That’s true, too. If you’re in a bad mental state and try to create an essence pattern, it rarely goes well. A good portion of all of that is your soul, supposedly, so a lot of things matter in context. But, anyways, as to why people here are like this,” she simply gestured wide at the air, “There’s barely any essence here. Cities can often be like this as ambient essence gets pulled in to keep various implements running, and then even more beyond that to keep feeding so many people in one spot.”

“At risk of this being a stupid question… Do you ever run out of essence in an area?” Niko tried to put the idea through, and found it was getting somewhat easier. Skye took a few tries to get it right, though, her first iteration at a translation had her wondering if Niko thought that the air disappeared.

“Ah, well, it can happen, but most cities don’t really worry about that kind of thing. Only the low tier cities ever really seem to have this issue. Higher tier essence is not as easily absorbed so it doesn’t get spread thin as easily, it is also more potent and allows for a higher ceiling. Still, most people who live in a tier one zone won’t spend their entire lives there. Greenleaf must see its entire population turnover… like, what, every ten years?” Turning, Skye’s question was placed before Ronald.

“That’s not actually true, though it’s… close enough,” he shrugged, “There are plenty of people who’ll just stay here their whole lives. But, I can say that over half of the city rotates, sure.”

“It’s kinda crazy thinking about it,” Mithel said, “I mean, I never really thought of it, but Greenleaf has a population of two-hundred thousand. Half of that rotating out every ten years or so is actually pretty interesting.”

The dirty blonde haired man said, “It’s not that interesting, right? I mean, it’s just a bunch of people moving?”

“Well, yeah, but it’s just with the level of technology… It’s a lot of work, right?” Mithel trailed off, realizing something partway through her words.

Niko nodded to himself, ‘She's right. But man, I wonder what gnome tech even looks like. I can’t imagine how clumsy a system in the middle-ages would have looked back on Earth if there were this many people in one spot, nevermind that being a migrating community, too.’

“See, he gets it!” Mithel happily pointed at the nodding Phorus.

“Sorry to burst your bubble, but he’s a bird. Of course those numbers are crazy to him.” Dachna said while smiling. The smile went a little limp as Niko glared at him. “Uhh… No offense?”

Niko squawked at him and gave him a quick peck with the blunt underside of his beak.

“Ow! That smarts,” Dachna hissed silently while Mithel chuckled at his suffering.

“Here we are, the best leatherworker I know!” Skye proudly declared, “I make sure to go to this guy whenever I need work done!”

The Greenhorns paused and looked upwards at the…

…Ramshackle and worn down building with a facade that seemed out of place amidst some much fresher stores on either side. Niko looked to the smithy beside said building, the lightly cream colored paint and adorned wooden slats giving it a neat and ordered appearance. On the other side, some kind of open-walled restaurant sat, the front half of the building left open aside from carved pillars of wood that were decorated to look like simple trees. They weren’t the highest quality things, but he did notice that many initials were carved along their false bases. Some, deeper in, were lacquered into the walls, though Niko didn’t know why. The building even had an upstairs area for dining more privately, and a third floor on top of that that he couldn’t see into, marking it as one of the exceptionally few buildings he’d seen so far with more than two floors. The highest number of floors so far that he’d seen was four, an achievement which belonged to an estate at the top of a hill on the southern side of the city.

All of which made the middle one stand out even more for its dusty and worn appearance.

“Uhh… Skye, you know… if you were hurting for money so badly, we could have helped you?” Dachna said with a tone that was only half-joking.

“I know some pretty good people over on east-lane, quick too,” Ronald cleared his throat, doing his best to not look too pitifully at Skye.

“H-hey! It’s not like that at all, I just really like this shop!” Skye spluttered, and Niko shook his head, before something caught his attention. A scent that was barely detectable wafted past his nostrils, and with a whip-crack of focus, he realized that the shop was the source.

“Oh, honey,” Mithel put a hand on her friend's shoulder, “It’s okay, we definitely understand. Right, guys?”

Dachna and Ronald both nodded sagely at that, and Skye flushed red. Niko was eighty percent sure they were just messing with her, but he didn’t join in the amusements. He stepped forward through the group and walked up to the door, fascinated by the strange things happening to the smell he was detecting.

“Niko?” In a questioning tone Ronald began following alongside the Phorus. “What’s up?”

“Something… very powerful.” Niko distractedly sent along his link towards Skye, hoping she would translate to Ronald for him.

“He said there’s something strong? I don’t know if he means smell or actually strong, though.” Skye eagerly took the lifeline that was a change of subject, but started as Niko pushed the doors open into the leather worker’s shop. “Wait a minute, I want to see your face!” Skye blurted aloud.

“See wha–Oh.” Niko started to ask when he stopped a few long strides into the store. Unlike the outside, the inside was immaculately cared for. Lacquered flooring, decorated and woodsy patterned walls, and most enticing, was the fact that Niko’s skin was warm with how much essence was in this room. Leather pieces of armor and other objects that Niko didn’t know the technical names for were all over the shop. There weren’t an incredible amount of items on display, contrary to what Niko might have expected in a shop. However, they were very tastefully exhibited, some of which were on mannequins to properly display the pieces.

Skye came in then, searching Niko’s features and came away with a satisfied grin. The others trailed in one by one, and she relished in seeing their faces go from doubt at the outside to being absolutely impressed. Niko was still noticing little details about the building alone, how everything seemed almost new in how well it was being cared for.

“Oh? New customers, or… Ah, Skye! How pleasant, I was just about to send a messenger your way.” A woman’s voice came from the front counter, and Niko followed the noise to its source. A tall woman with tied up blonde hair lifted a counter-piece and left the front desk. Niko found himself surprised, because if he thought Skye was an elf, this woman was, somehow, even more elf than his companion was. Long ears that tapered at the tips almost angularly protruded from either side of her head. A very mildly tanned complexion with exceedingly smooth skin was visible from a leather jacket and stylish but form fitting cotton shirt that looked more modern than Niko expected to see in this world, seemed to be her style of choice. Her midriff was left exposed, but unlike Skye she lacked clear muscular definition. Yet, for all her stylish and chic appearance, Niko noticed her hands most of all. Calluses were present over her palms and fingers, and she didn’t bother with any kind of paint or the ilk on her nails. As he was finishing sizing her up, fascinated by the multicolored earthy tones on her baggy pants, he realized she was doing the same to him. “And who do we have here? Friends of yours?”

The leatherworker tried to pretend to give Skye’s humanoid friends more than a passing glance, but Niko noticed how her eyes snapped back to his feathers, combing over them almost hungrily, a feeling that he realized might not be too far off the mark.

Skye cleared her throat, directly placing herself partly in the line of sight between the woman and her companions–especially Niko, which he appreciated. “Stella, these are members of my team. Niko, Ronald, Dachna, and Mithel.”

“Oh! Well color me surprised, I almost thought you were lying when you said you had fr–err, a team.” Stella stopped and cleared her throat, and Skye just glared at her flatly. “I’m Stella Nietche, Skye’s cousin!”

The Greenhorns properly introduced themselves in turn with Niko making a point to keep someone between him and the woman as she shook hands with them. When it came to his turn, he only clucked at her, still keeping his distance.

“So, who's the handler for this big sweetie here? Skye, is it you?” Stella turned to her cousin with as much forced calm as Niko had ever seen in a person.

“I’m his interpreter, Stella,” Skye emphasized the words, “Treat him like you’d treat anyone else, Stella, please.”

The woman’s head snapped back to Niko so fast that he wasn’t sure she shouldn't have whip-lash. “Oh? That’s really interesting.” Her words then got a great deal faster and energetic, “Can I please pet you? Your feathers look amazing, they’re so gorgeous and I just need to touch them!”

“Stella!” Skye groaned, “I thought you were over that kind of thing!”

“I…” She paused, before she reigned herself in. Stella stood a little bit straighter, taking several deep breaths, visibly mastering herself while closing her eyes. When a few breaths passed, Ronald asked the question that was on the very concerned Phorus mind–and face, if everyone’s glances at his obviously nervous visage were any hint.

“So… she’s… How do I put this…” The big man struggled to find a diplomatically acceptable way to say what he wanted to say.

Skye clarified things before anyone got any odd ideas, “She really likes possible… ‘gifts’ for her work. She and my other cousin work together on a lot of different types of armor. She wouldn’t hurt him, of course!”

Stella cleared her throat, “Just so! My apologies about that, I’ve just been trying to get my hands on a good set of feathers for projects for so long that I got ahead of myself.”

“Hey, hey, I need these, too!” Niko rattled off a short retort at the woman, who only blinked at the noise. The others recognized it for the more offended reaction it was.

“Maybe we’ll go see that other shop you were talking about afterall, Ronald.” Skye sighed, “Sorry, Niko.”

“That may be for the best. I mean, this stuff is obviously quality work, but…” The big man's gaze once more settled on Niko, who was inching more to the door.

“W-wait a minute, now!” Stella’s calm was now inching towards flustered, “I’m sorry about all of that. Truly, it won’t happen again.”

Niko paused, thinking over the quality of the pieces in the room. It was honestly touching that the group seemed ready to leave for his sake. ‘Honestly, I have no idea what’s in here beyond leather armor, but Skye seemed excited about taking us here. Ronald even said it’s quality stuff, so… Hmm…’

The Phorus turned his eyes to one of his companions in particular. Dachna’s own gaze matched his, and in a moment that he almost swore he could feel, they had something of their own wordless conversation. Dachna’s eyes twinkled, as Niko imagined him thinking, ‘It’d be a shame to not give someone the opportunity to make things right, eh?’

Dachna’s expression flattened to something more severe as he faced Stella, “You said you're sorry, but where’s the sincerity?”

The rest of the room froze, but Niko subtly moved in step behind the man, doing his best not to grin.

“Uh, come again?” Stella seemed to have stiffened into a statue at the man's words.

“Well, you basically just asked my friend for his hair.” Dachna gestured to Niko behind him, “Actually, kind of worse, isn’t that like asking for a layer of skin? What about sincerity? Saying sorry is easy, but actually meaning it is hard. And, besides, he is a Phorus; I mean, look at him, isn’t he just fabulous to look at?”

‘Uh… Dachna, where are you going with this now?’ Niko felt his faith in the man suddenly waver, but before Niko could rethink anything, Dachna pushed on.

“Maybe you could even ask him to part with something.” A predatory smile flashed on Dachna’s face, “But, as Samut teaches, a grudge released is a path open.”

Niko had a feeling that was not how that saying went, based on the way his companions were all looking at Dachna. Stella was not one of them, though, instead bringing a hand up to her chin in thought.

“Sincerity, huh?” She considered Dachna, before looking back up to Niko, a flare of that need settling in her gaze. It seemed so out of place that Niko couldn’t help but wonder if that was normal or not. Skye had never demonstrated anything like that, to his knowledge.

Niko noticed Skye out of the corner of his eye, who's searching gaze between the two lit up in slight recognition. She turned to Stella, “A discount would be a good start.”

The cool and collected visage that Stella had fell away with a splutter, “Discount? Are you mad?”

“We could just leave?” Ronald offered, shoving his obvious want for some of the armor pieces away and effecting apathy, “I’m sure that bag of his feathers can go to someone else.”

‘Wait, you kept those?’ Niko blinked in surprise and looked at Ronald. He gave Niko a wink, but didn’t expand on that, ‘No, hold on, what do you mean ‘wink’!? Did you actually bag up my old feathers?’

Niko’s sudden questions were unknown to the group, but Stella’s calm had shattered, “Bag? A bag of feath–” her eyes shot to Niko and then to the rest of the group, her breath coming in a bit harsher, which was now firmly concerning everyone but Skye, who only had an expression of unsurprised resignation on her face. “Variable discounts, fifty percent to start. No, no, that’s not–” she inhaled sharply, “–I’ll do custom orders for all of you! Discount stands and is negotiable. If you make me your main leatherworker while you’re in the area or hit tier three.”

Now the group was looking more interested, and Niko noted, pressured. They shared expressions rife with consternation when Ronald briefly looked back over to Stella. “Give us a minute to talk this over.”

Stella shifted on her feet, “A-and of course, you can vet my materials and work first! I guarantee that the work will be well done!”

“I appreciate that,” Ronald nodded calmly, “We’ll still need to talk things over.”

The woman bit her lip to keep from talking more, before she nodded sharply and then backed away, “Yes, of course, I’ll be over at the counter.”

True to her word, she pulled away, and the Greenhorns moved a bit closer to the corner of the room.

“Alright… What is that about? I asked for consolation, not a contract.” Dachna looked supremely annoyed, “My immediate vote is to go. Sorry Skye, I think this stuff is good, but… I don’t like the idea of locking in my choices like that.”

Skye on the other hand had gone from calm to a very stiff walk to the group. She put a hand on Dachna’s shoulder, and at first Niko thought it was to calm him.

Then he realized it was to steady herself.

“Wow, she’s in deep for your feathers.” Skye looked as if she were shellshocked, “Look, I know you guys haven’t gotten a great impression of her, but that is a deal that some people would literally kill for.”

Niko, Dachna, Ronald, and Mithel all exchanged doubtful stares with each other, “And… why is that?” Mithel asked.

“She’s a full blooded elf, her crafting is her Fixation, and a damn strong one,” Skye spoke the ‘Fixation’ word extremely quietly, “She’ll give us damn near any deal we want. I’d ask that you don’t screw her over too badly, though. But, the point is that she’s a member of The Nietche family,” she emphasized the family name, but incomprehension was what met her gaze.

“The Nietche family,” Skye said again before growing incredulous at the continued confusion, “Guys, tell me you’re just screwing with me, here.”

Dachna frowned, “Nope, no idea what you’re on about right now.”

“If it’s some designer good type thing… nope, not a clue.” Ronald shook his head.

“I lived in a literal underground fortress most of my life,” Mithel gave an awkward smile, “I don’t really know what’s hip with the kids.”

Niko snorted a trill of amusement at that, “That’s such a dad joke.”

Skye frowned deeper with every confirmation of her teammates' ignorance, “I lived in a forest and I know about them. How–nevermind, it doesn’t matter.” She waved her hand, “Point is, they’re a crafting family that every single noble family tries to get in their back pocket. Some of the strongest gear ever made came from the Nietche family. Do you all know the tales about that Advarican Paladin, Argus?” Nods returned to her, “He was dubbed ‘Wyrmslayer’ out of skill and no small part due to the fact that armor made from non-draconic material saved his arse in a fight against a dragon. The Nietche family made it for him, custom order.”

“Liric, Modrum, Argus, Verius, and literally half of all the heroes you’ve ever heard about sported Nietche gear.” She stressed, “I was only going to buy some of Stella’s cast-offs, I can’t afford her big stuff, and she only gives me that because we grew up together. Most people can’t touch her stuff in here.”

Dachna looked at one of the displays with a simple number on it before paling, “Skye… does that 13 represent… thousands?” The man practically squeaked that last word.

Skye nodded sharply, and the man looked like he wanted to swallow his own tongue. “You could have told me before I talked smartly to someone like that, Skye.” Dachna whispered, more than a little red in the face.

Skye grinned in response, “She prefers customers with a spine, anyways, she hates the pandering and simpering. But… anyways.” She took a deep breath, “Her offer to help us to tier three… Honestly, I’d like to see if we can get her onboard for the long haul. Maybe we can get Tom in on it too…” She trailed off wistfully.

“Okay, yeah, but does that mean we can afford these things at all? They’re worth thousands.” Ronald frowned, and Niko nodded alongside his words, “An agreement won’t necessarily help us if we still have to save up to buy scraps of gear.”

“That… is true.” Skye begrdugindly admitted.

Ronald piled on with, “And you’re asking us to not screw her over. But, it sounds like she’d really have to take a bad deal to work with us.”

“Not necessarily,” Mithel cut in, thinking deeply as she held up one hand, counting off her next points, “Materials, some funds, access to individuals that will be on the pilgrimage, Skye’s apparently got deeper family connections than I thought existed–” she grinned at her friend at that, “–those are what we can work with. If Niko is willing to part with his own excess… materials? I guess that’s what you can call that. Well, if he’s willing to part, then she can turn that around and sell way higher than if she had sourced material from anywhere else. He’s an aberrant in the first place, so that’s worth a lot. Then we have the added benefits of going on the pilgrimage soon, that should lend even more to the reputation of a growing leatherworker, right?”

Skye nodded along, and now the group was seriously considering things. Dachna, in spite of his recent shock, was also following along, “So, we get that generous discount, Niko gets paid for materials that we all use?” He paused at that, looking up at Niko who then considered for a few seconds before nodding. Niko had no issue with sharing funds, especially considering he would have issues purchasing things on his own anyways. “Okay, so we share that. Exclusive contract for other good materials we get. Tier three is a long ways off but… She can make tier three stuff, right?”

“She can, I’ve seen her work it myself. It’s not easy, but maybe she can refer us to someone else when we get higher.” Skye thoughtfully considered.

“Then… I’m tentatively for this, but we’ll definitely need to see proof. Not like I don’t trust you at your word, Skye, but this is a big commitment. Leather goods are a huge portion of our team's choice armors and such. Hells, I might even swap to leather if it's good enough.” Ronald nodded, “We’ll have to tell her that we’re going on the pilgrimage. She obviously wants to work with Phorus goods, but it’s not like we’ll have an abundance of that per se, so it’ll be better to be upfront with expectations on both sides.”

“I agree as well, on those counts,” Mithel nodded, “We’ll have to reserve the right to go elsewhere if she isn’t able to reduce her costs to affordable levels for us, though. I don’t mind paying premiums to save my life, but it only matters if I can buy the stuff in the first place.”

“Then that’s my vote, too… I guess we’re going to have to get a lot better at harvesting hides, though, yeah?” Dachna made a mock put-upon face.

They turned to Niko then, who had been listening attentively the entire time. He’d also been keeping tabs on the anxious elf at the front desk who was doing her best to pretend she couldn’t hear everything they were saying. Niko had watched her twitch and go red at Skye’s praise, and flinch at every mild jab that the group had for her. Still, Niko didn’t fault her for that. In fact, the small, warm smile on her face when the group discussed not screwing her over was what drew his opinion over the line in her favor more than most anything else. None of the armor business mattered as much to him, since he had no real comparison to other shops, but it mattered a lot to his people.

Niko nodded exaggeratedly, to demonstrate that he agreed as well.

“Great, then let's gouge her for all she’s worth.” Skye said in a sing-song voice, and Niko noted the smile on Stella’s face had frozen rigidly. “Only kidding, of course. Just imagine if she were listening in right now,” Skye’s grin expanded briefly before she got down to real business, “So, just to recap, these are the terms we’re using?”

All the while, Stella’s expression unfroze and she shook her head, pouting in her cousin's direction. Niko chortled internally at that. ‘Well, let’s see what she’s got, then.’